In their first game of the 2014 IIHF World Championship, Switzerland defeated Norway 5-2. While the Swiss dictated the play for most of the game, the rust was apparent early on. Especially in the first period, which ended tied 1-1.
“I think we’re happy to get the points – that’s the most important thing right now,” said coach Patrick Fischer. “Obviously, the way we played, there’s a lot to improve. At least at the start, I think you could see that we had eight players coming in and it was the first game we all played together, so everything didn’t go so smoothly, but we started to play better in the third.”
“I thought we had some great looks early on in the game,” said Nino Niederreiter, who assisted on Sven Andrighetto’s game-opening goal with a drop-pass. “We didn’t like that 1-1 goal late in the first period but we showed some good hockey and there are things we know we have to sharpen up against the other teams.”
The Swiss led 4-1 after two periods and then Niederreiter scored on the power play early in the third to make it 5-1, drawing an assist from the ageless Andres Ambühl.
“It’s impressive to watch,” Niederreiter said of Ambühl. “This is his 19th tournament and he still looks like a young guy out there. He plays extremely well, he has a lot of passion and he always goes into battle 100 percent. That’s what makes him a great leader on the team and a great leader on the ice.”
Speaking of leaders, Switzerland’s captain at this tournament is Roman Josi, who just arrived in Prague yesterday after an overseas flight.
“For us, it’s clear, when Roman is here he’s going to be the captain,” said Fischer. “He’s the perfect captain for us and I think he had a really strong game. Obviously, we tried to manage his ice time and not overplay him. I don’t think we pushed the lineup at all tonight. We tried to get everybody in the game.”
“He’s obviously one of the best defensemen in the world and we’re very lucky to have him,” said Niederreiter. “He’s a great guy off the ice and a terrific player on the ice. When a guy like that shows up to play for your country, it means a lot to everyone else.”
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After a day off, Switzerland's next game is on Sunday against Austria.
“It’s going to be a tight-checking game,” Niederreiter figures. “A cross-border game is always something special and we know what we’ve got to do to be successful and we’ve gotta make sure we do it.”
“I don’t think they’re an easy opponent,” said Fischer. “They work hard, skate hard, and we have to watch them closely what they do in their game tomorrow (against Denmark) and then we’ll be ready with a good game plan against them.”